Following a quiet Thursday with no arrests at San Francisco immigration court, Friday morning was packed: Several families with children and four individual adults filled the courtroom for their immigration hearings, and one woman was arrested in the hallway.
All those before the judge Friday attended their hearing without an attorney, as is common. That included a young Colombian woman in a powder blue button-up and dark slacks, who took the stand at around 9:30 a.m.
The Department of Homeland Security attorney looked up from her computer to Judge Joseph Park’s screen — the judge joined the meeting virtually, and spoke to asylum-seekers through a Spanish interpreter.
The federal attorney said, “Your honor, I have a motion for this case.”
DHS attorneys have recently been moving to dismiss asylum-seekers’ cases. This renders them vulnerable to arrest and deportation but, even when judges reject those motions, it makes little difference: ICE agents wait outside the courtroom and arrest the asylum-seekers regardless.
The DHS attorney moved to dismiss on Friday. The judge rejected the motion.
The Colombian woman was then ushered from the stand to a bench by the “attorney of the day,” a pro-bono lawyer who attends immigration hearings to tell asylum-seekers what to expect — including that they will likely be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the hallway.
The attorney, Amanda Maya, told her she could remain silent, and collected the emergency contact of a trusted person who could be told of her detention.
The woman teared up when the attorneys patted her on the back to comfort her. She reached the door to the courtroom hall, where several ICE agents were waiting on the other side, when Maya said to her in Spanish: “I’ll go first.”
The ICE agents moved in and handcuffed her. The woman let out a shudder and a sigh, crying. The officers took her two floors up to be processed.
She was the only one arrested Friday of over 30 people scheduled for the morning hearings with Judge Park. The rest were scheduled for further hearings and quickly left the courtroom when their case was adjourned.
The arrest occurred two days after a violent encounter on the streets outside the courtroom: ICE agents tackled at least four protesters and zip tied several of them, detaining at least one, and pepper-sprayed protesters and a reporter. One woman, a U.S. citizen, was charged with federal misdemeanors, which Bay Area attorneys said was the first time they could recall that happening here in recent memory.
Thank you SO MUCH for all your detailed reporting on what is happening with ICE, police, immigrants, and protestors around 100 Montgomery and 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco. As a volunteer supporting immigrants with hearings in courts in both buildings, it is extremely helpful to have this level of detail about specific arrests and violent incidents, including followup stories about what happened next, such as today’s story about the US citizen arrested on Wednesday.
Why was this one woman picked by ICE? Was any reason given? Was she accused of a crime?
looking under the comments in support of immigrants, i notice many being downvoted; it makes me realize how many relatives John Wayne or David Duke have in the Bay area.
It’s just disgusting that anyone downvoted comments like “was she accused of a crime?” or “I appreciate the details of the article”. We’re on a sick downward path where so many Americans think this is remotely OK. I don’t think it’s getting any better in my lifetime, so my only hope for those who are supporting this gestapo practice: I pray, with every ounce of my being, that you are next.